Trays for Entertaining

Got 12 of these small trays a few weekends ago for a meager $2.00. I imagine a table with one at each place setting . . . one of those times when I wish I had a big dining room so I could set a full table, especially with the holidays right around the corner. Will find a use for these regardless of my lack of a formal dining room.

Playing Catch-Up

I've been absent from blogging for awhile, spotty postings at best. Just a lot on my plate, a lot on my mind. Many, many obligations with church (a good thing), work is busy, keeping up with housework is a challenge, emails breed like rabbits (how to keep up with reading, responding, filing and trashing???). And although Harleigh is happy at college and I'm enjoying the empty nest, gotta admit it's an adjustment. Mainly from the standpoint that life has changed dramatically for me from this moment on.

I look forward to Thanksgiving when she comes home. Chateau Gahan will come alive again with the bustle and chatter of a teenager. I need me a good dose of Harleigh.

Since I've not posted for awhile, here are some pix of Chateau Gahan, just 'cause.

The Seasonal Cloche

Got this cloche on sale at TJMaxx for $12 and will put it to good use with seasonal vignettes. I'll work on something a little more dramatic for the season, but in the effort to get something out and looking Halloween-festive, I created this quicky. I'm a sucker for these feather butterflies (the one butterfly is adhered to the inside of the glass), so those coupled with a pair of punkins has got Chateau Gahan feeling more Fall-friendly.

A couple little additions

I found these vintage plastic mirrors and wall doo-dads at Goodwill, painted them pink and they now hang in Harleigh's room and her bathroom.

She prefers no closet door, but I simply can't stand a gaping hole showcasing bare hangers and a hodgepodge of clothes left behind, so I fashioned a curtain from a crocheted tablecloth.

Statesboro Linens

What a great three days in Statesboro visiting Harleigh for Georgia Southern University's Parents' Weekend. It was a low-key kinda visit with the game on Saturday night being a big highlight. With Harleigh's schedule the way it is (packed to the gills), I had a lot of Dawn time, which is one of favorite ways to unwind. There was people watching at the Statesboro Mall (which is the size of a postage stamp), thrifting, walking the campus, even some stolen intervals in my hotel room watching cable channels (this cheapskate has the basic package at home and misses out on all the good stuff) like TLC, Bravo and MTV. Harleigh and I had a craft session (at her request!) to make spirit items to wear to the game: I fashioned myself a blue and gold corsage and she created quite a lovely gold headband. I so enjoyed watching her with her friends; makes a mom proud to see a young woman so gracious with those around her.

Home to my little man on Sunday and all the goodness that is Chateau Gahan.
Here are some finds from the Statesboro Goodwill. This vintage Cuba tablecloth for $1.99. Turns out it's worth a heck-uv-a-lot more!! See what it sold for online!!! I think I need to start listing on eBay.
This pillowcase is just about the sweetest thing to lay my head on!
And this curtain and valance with flocked daisies. Come on . . . flocked. How could I pass this up!?!?!

Southern Weddings Magazine

The magazine has hit the newsstands and Ali's wedding is featured big time! See the feature below! Wedding Design and Coordination by Dawn Gahan. Has a nice sound to it . . .

Thursday Night FUN!!!!!!!

For my birthday, friend and co-worker Jenn got us and another co-worker tickets to see David Sedaris this Thursday night. I'm a huge fan, loving all his books, his sister . . . and now I get to see him in person. Yee doggy!!!!!!!!

Ali and Matt's Wedding UnVeiled!

Tomorrow, the newest issue of Southern Weddings Magazine hits the newsstand! And Ali's wedding is in it — three spreads and she and Matt are on the cover of the section — yeeeha! The wedding I lovingly poured my heart and soul into, not just because I adore the bride, but because she and I shared a vision that was pure joy to turn into a reality. Jill Thomas photographed the event. Here are some pictures I borrowed from Jill's site —

Bitter Sweet

That's how I describe this past week. Bitter sweet. My grandmother passed away on Monday. It was sad to know that cancer took her; hard to say how much longer she'd have lived beyond her 91 years had she not been a victim to such an ugly disease. And so the heartbreak weighed us down until family started arriving on Tuesday. From Massachusetts, Maryland and Florida. Then heartbreak turned into a celebration of my grandmother, a chance to catch up with family I've not seen for a decade or more. The weather here is kissed with Fall; the burial overlooking the city of Atlanta, high on a hill at historic Crestlawn Cemetery, was quiet, sunny and breezy, a perfect ending to a busy two days of arriving family and then the emotional viewing. The crucifix above, a wedding gift to my grandparents, now hangs in my foyer. I've always loved it and remember it hanging in my grandparents three-story brick row house in Baltimore.
I said goodbye to my sister Beth and Harleigh on Saturday and filled my afternoon with lazying about and crafts. I've been wanting to frame a vintage Florida map, but haven't wanted to pay for custom framing. So armed with the map measurements (and a tape measure that always goes with me), I check thrift store frames, hoping to find one that might fit. Well, I found one the other day. It's a little small (I've lost the FL on FLORIDA), but it works. And for $12, it is what it is. Now hangs in my bedroom.